Can One Live Without An Opinion Of Oneself?

Ok, we've all engaged in plenty of arguments regarding the existence of the "self". That is not the topic here.

From birth to death, we are bombarded with the opinions of others defining who we are as individuals. "You're smart, you're stupid, you're overweight, your too thin, you're falling behind" etc etc, and the words and remarks form inner impressions of who we understand ourselves to be.

Can one live without the inner impressions? Can one be free of the cultivated form that exists within consciousness?

Peter Sharpe wrote:Can one live without the inner impressions? Can one be free of the cultivated form that exists within consciousness?

The self is the sum total of our conditioning from birth. Consciousness whether superficial or sub is also the self, the result of conditioning. Opinions are rooted in our conditioning are formed by our conditioning. So it seems that "one", which is the self, can never be free of part of itself which you are calling the "cultivated form that exists within consciousness". These things listed above are all part of the self aren't they?

Peter Sharpe wrote:From birth to death, we are bombarded with the opinions of others defining who we are as individuals.

I am noticing that others have opinions about me and I am noticing that I am affected by those opinions, whether I accept or deny them.

I am also noticing that I myself form opinions about others, in part based on how accurate I think their opinions of me are.

I see that these opinions are always partial, incomplete. I see that they omit.

Seeing the opinions are incomplete, and therefore false to some degree, I am asking is it possible to live without them. I cannot control whether others form opinions, but I can let go of my own.

I now ask, is it possible to have relationship free of opinion? Can I look at someone anew, without preconception, letting go of all that has occurred between us in the past? Can I see the person as they are now, not as I believe they have been?

Can I also have fresh relationship with myself, not living up to some consistency, some mental image? Can I allow myself the freedom to be unencumbered by the past? Can I discover what is now?